Tibetan / Vajrayana

Vajrayana Buddhism is most closely associated with Tibet and can be characterized by the figure of the siddha, the master whose spiritual realization is so profound that he or she has power over the phenomenal world, and in whom the profundity and vastness of absolute truth is fully and completely manifested. Many of our most well-known authors come from this tradition of Tibetan Buddhism .

[Note: The tags for the various schools are not definitive as many books span multiple traditions, etc. They are meant to use as a starting point for exploring this collection.]

A Treasury of Priceless Scripture

This fourteenth-century Tibetan classic serves as an excellent introduction to basic Buddhism as practiced throughout India and Tibet and describes the process of entering the Buddhist path through study and reflection.

Maitreya's Dharmadharmatavibhanga with Commentaries by Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham

The Buddhist masterpiece Distinguishing Phenomena from Their Intrinsic Nature, often referred to by its Sanskrit title, Dharmadharmatāvibhaṅga, is part of a collection known as the Five Maitreya Teachings, a set of philosophical works that have become classics of the Indian… Read More

The Practice of Tara the Liberator

Tara, the feminine embodiment of enlightened activity, is a Buddhist deity whose Tibetan name means “liberator,” signaling her ability to free beings from the delusion and ignorance that keep them trapped in ever-recurring patterns of negativity. She embodies a challenge,… Read More

Gesar's Magical Birth, Early Years, and Coronation as King

Tibet’s great national literary treasure, the epic of Gesar, is the equivalent of the Iliad or the Odyssey in the West. It arose out of a comparable oral tradition, beginning in the eleventh century, and is now considered the longest… Read More

The three volumes of this extraordinary work present a complete map of the Tibetan Buddhist path from beginning to end, as taught by the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. It is based on the teachings presented at the annual… Read More

Leading Experts on Buddhism, Psychology, and Medicine Explore the Health Benefits of Contemplative Practice

Regular meditation practice has a powerful impact on the mind and body, rewiring the brain and bringing us all kinds of benefits: contentment and well-being, resilience and focus, better mental and physical health, and greater empathy and compassion. This… Read More

Practical Advice and Spiritual Wisdom from the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition

We all face death, but how many of us are actually ready for it? Whether our own death or that of a loved one comes first, how prepared are we, spiritually or practically? In Preparing to Die, Andrew Holecek presents… Read More

Self-Awakening through Contemplative Meditation

Through Contemplative Meditation we learn to investigate reality by looking carefully at our own mind and everyday life. We come to know ourselves very well—not only the negative habits we want to change, but our innate potential to find peace,… Read More

Heart Advice from the Great Tibetan Masters

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche inspired Matthieu Ricard to create this anthology by telling him that “when we come to appreciate the depth of the view of the eight great traditions [of Tibetan Buddhism] and also see that they all lead… Read More

The Dalai Lamas on Tantra

The lineage of the reincarnated line of Dalai Lamas has held primary spiritual authority and, until recently, temporal power in Tibet since the beginning of the fifteenth century. The translations in this book represent a curated set of their writings… Read More

Awakening to Our True Nature

We can realize the highest truth in each moment when we learn to see through the illusion of the self. Anam Thubten, in remarkably easy-to-understand language, provides teachings for doing exactly that, based on the wisdom of the Buddhist traditions.… Read More

Clarifying the Meaning of Chod (Expanded Edition)

Fear, anger, and negativity are states that each of us have to contend with. Machik's Complete Explanation, the most famous book of the teachings of Machik Lapdrön, the great female saint and yogini of eleventh- to twelfth-century Tibet, addresses… Read More

Twelve Extraordinary Women Shaping the Transmission of Tibetan Buddhism in the West

What drives a young London librarian to board a ship to India, meditate in a remote cave by herself for twelve years, and then build a flourishing nunnery in the Himalayas? How does a surfer girl from Malibu become the… Read More

The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma

The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma represents meditation master Chögyam Trungpa’s greatest contribution to Western Buddhism. This three-volume collection presents in lively, relevant language the comprehensive teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist path of the hinayana, mahayana, and… Read More

The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma

The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma represents meditation master Chögyam Trungpa’s greatest contribution to Western Buddhism. This three-volume collection presents in lively, relevant language the comprehensive teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist path of the hinayana, mahayana, and… Read More